St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Faith - the certainty

The second part of my job as a vicar is this: I try to persuade people to nail their colours to the mast of what they believe.

If we really do believe in a God who wants to get involved with us and who wants to give us his power to help our lives, then what is stopping us lead lives which are active in doing his will?

I think what stops us is that our faith is somehow in the "Maybe, I hope so" land instead of the realms of being convinced. If we really were convinced we would act like it.

With this in mind, I recently entered a lyric challenge (run by Christian Songwriters Network, an internet group). You had to write a song on a passage of scripture, in this case Hebrews 11. I saw that the thrust of the passage was - here were people who believed in God, so they simply acted on this belief, and that's faith, and we can do it too.

Here's the song. The tune is printed on page 4*, and you can listen to it on our church web site if your computer will play midi files.

John Hartley

Faith - the certainty

Faith - the certainty,
the knowing what we do not see,
my hope in God's Son
the reliable one,
being sure of eternity,
convinced of his love for me.

By faith we understand
the world was made at God's command.
So Noah, when God said: "Build me a boat",
built it - he was ready to float
when rain covered the land -
that's faith: Noah will stand!

By faith we find a home
although on earth we wander and roam.
So Abraham, when God said to go,
left his house and he didn't know
where God would give him land -
that's faith: Abram will stand!

By faith we will receive:
we don't yet have, but still we believe.
So Moses went and called all the slaves,
led them forth, God parted the waves,
they came to their own land -
that's faith: Moses will stand!

Now time's too short to tell
of heroes who reached heaven through hell:
they prayed, they saw God's answers to prayer,
round us now, they beckon us there
to join them in that land -
by faith, with them we'll stand!

* You can listen to the tune and see the sheet music by following this link.

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. May 2005, Page 2.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (May 2005) Believe in God, Faith (song), General Election, Theatre. Music. Other hymns and songs.	Faith - the certainty The second part of my job as a vicar is this: I try to persuade people to nail their colours to the mast of what they believe. If we really do believe in a God who wants to get involved with us and who wants to give us his power to help our lives, then what is stopping us lead lives which are active in doing his will? I think what stops us is that our faith is somehow in the "Maybe, I hope so" land instead of the realms of being convinced. If we really were convinced we would act like it. With this in mind, I recently entered a lyric challenge (run by Christian Songwriters Network, an internet group). You had to write a song on a passage of scripture, in this case Hebrews 11. I saw that the thrust of the passage was - here were people who believed in God, so they simply acted on this belief, and that's faith, and we can do it too. Here's the song. The tune is printed on page 4, and you can listen to it on our church web site if your computer will play midi files. John Hartley Faith - the certainty* Faith - the certainty, the knowing what we do not see, my hope in God's Son the reliable one, being sure of eternity, convinced of his love for me. By faith we understand the world was made at God's command. So Noah, when God said: "Build me a boat", built it - he was ready to float when rain covered the land - that's faith: Noah will stand! By faith we find a home although on earth we wander and roam. So Abraham, when God said to go, left his house and he didn't know where God would give him land - that's faith: Abram will stand! By faith we will receive: we don't yet have, but still we believe. So Moses went and called all the slaves, led them forth, God parted the waves, they came to their own land - that's faith: Moses will stand! Now time's too short to tell of heroes who reached heaven through hell: they prayed, they saw God's answers to prayer, round us now, they beckon us there to join them in that land - by faith, with them we'll stand! Words & tune copyright © John Hartley 2005. * You can listen to the tune and see the sheet music by following this link.
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